Series “The on-site report from the world” (The 16th installment): Heated sales battle in Beijing

China now has the largest production volume of folding cartons and corrugated boxes. Over the last 20 years it has overtaken Japan and the US, and finally has become the biggest player in the world.

Food sampling in Beijing

there, I flew to Beijing and dropped by a large supermarket.

Expectedly, there were a variety of famous brands from either Asia, Europe or America for food, drink, daily products, and home appliances. With some local brands added, I was surprised how many options there were for customers.

Consequently, each brand tries hard to come up with ideas on how to appeal its products to increase sales. So, let me introduce an example of a unique sales promotion that may not be seen in Japan.

Food sampling is very popular in Japan, but I found it to be much more aggressive in Beijing. As I stopped to look at the shelf, a high school girl was standing right next to me. She was holding a corrugated display box with vivid printing. Some tomato-flavored crackers were in the box (see the photo). She tapped my shoulder and said to me, “Please try this” in Chinese. “Well then, I’ll have a few” I said, and the next moment I had put one package into the shopping basket. Alas, I cannot really refuse when they make such an offer.

Recently, most supermarkets try to cut costs by reducing manpower. However, here the brands competed with each other with a labor-intensive method. They used a “value-added” corrugated board as a promotional prop and it really played a crucial role in this sales promotion event.